1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for a law enforcement monitoring center in general, and to the integration of data obtained from lawful interception with data retention reservoirs, in particular.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Traditional lawful interception relies mainly on intercepting phone calls of known targets, for which warrants had been issued. Modern lawful interception comprises intercepting additional communication means used by the known targets, including computerized sources such as e-mails, chats, web browsing, VOIP communications and others. The process of monitoring a target includes analysis of the captured information and related meta data using a variety of technologies, displaying different data sources on the same platform, and managing the entire workflow of one or more investigators. However, all the information can be captured only for known targets through the issuance and usage of warrants.
On the other hand, traffic analysis, which may rely on a variety of communication traffic information, including data retention sources such as call detail records (CDR), IP detail records (IPDR), or data retention of any communication traffic, uses large volumes of meta data in order to deduce connections between entities, whether the entities themselves are a-priori known or not. In the lawful interception community, traffic analysis performed upon data retention sources can be used to draw meaningful conclusions related to additional targets, communication types, communication patterns, and the like. CDR, IPDR, or Data Retention of any communication traffic as collected by communication providers, and advanced data mining, analysis and visualization performed upon them, can be a powerful tool for law enforcement agencies. However, most of the data is banned due to security and privacy limitations. Only data items authorized through a warrant, which is specific to a known target can be provided to and used by the law enforcement agencies.
Thus, there is a significant gap between the available information as collected through lawful interception, as well as CDR, IPDR, or data retention of any communication traffic as collected for example by service providers, and those parts of the collected information that can be lawfully used for improving the work of law enforcement agencies.
There is therefore a need for an apparatus and method that will enable law enforcement agencies to use CDR, IPDR, or Data Retention of any communication traffic, as collected by service providers to enhance and provide insight and information to lawful interception, without violating privacy or security rules.